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Inhabitants of Cambridge
(1504-1635)Cambridge comprised fourteen ancient parishes, plus the university (which was extra-parochial), in the diocese of Ely. The church of St Mary the Great (as opposed to St Mary the Less) in the Market Place (juxta forum) has churchwardens' accounts surviving from 1504 onwards. Those from 1504 to 1635 were transcribed by J. E. Foster for the Cambridge Antiquarian Society and published in 1905. The two churchwardens were chosen annually: the previous year's churchwardens each chose another parishioner: those two then each chose three other parishioners: the resulting eight then chose the new year's churchwardens, the wardens of the Light of the Rood, and the wardens of the Mass of Jesus. Auditors were also chosen, usually out of the eight, to examine all the wardens' accounts at the end of the year. The churchwardens' accounts are largely concerned with the costs of repair of the church and its furnishings, and include the names of tradesmen and workmen. Each Easter a rate called Easter money was raised was raised from all householders in the parish, and additional rates are occasionally levied for unusual expenses, such as steeple reconstruction. These 'Easter book' lists give a complete list of householders for the parish, excepting the poor. The church's income also included the rents from some houses in the parish, and the names of the tenants appear. The offices of the Light of the Rood and the Mass of Jesus were abolished during the Reformation. The accounts of the Light of the Rood, i. e., for candles burnt before the crucifix, often include a list of sums received for funerary diriges (dirges) for the year, from which the year of death of the more prosperous parishioners can be traced in this early period.